verboten

/ˌvəˈbəʊtn̩/

//ˌvəˈbəʊtn̩// adj

"verboten" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“verboten” is uncommon English (frequency #83,873 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#83,873
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (Strictly) forbidden or prohibited.

Corpus desk

Index EN-verboten · verboten · English

verboten · rank #83,873 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #83,873
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH veiling

Nearest frequency peer: veiling (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “verboten”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “verboten” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for verboten
PropertyValue
Headwordverboten
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˌvəˈbəʊtn̩/
Letters8
Frequency rank#83,873
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “verboten” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).verbotenfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “veiling” (#83,871), “vesicular” (#83,875), “vanishingly” (#83,870). Among 969 “V” headwords, “verboten” is #83,873. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

verboten is uncommon English at frequency #83,873 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌvəˈbəʊtn̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "(Strictly) forbidden or prohibited.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for verboten, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from German verboten (“banned, forbidden, prohibited”). Doublet of forbidden. The correct English form is verboten, spelled V-E-R-B-O-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    (Strictly) forbidden or prohibited.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how verboten appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Before that, students and professors could date whomever we wanted; the next day we were off-limits to one another—verboten, traife, dangerous (and perhaps, therefore, all the more alluring).
  2. Or was it because he [Mark Zuckerberg] has since been steeped in the relentless positivity of Silicon Valley, where it is verboten to imagine a bad outcome?

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German verboten (“banned, forbidden, prohibited”). Doublet of forbidden.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "verboten"?
"verboten" is spelled V-E-R-B-O-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌvəˈbəʊtn̩/.
What does "verboten" mean?
As an adjective, "verboten" means: (Strictly) forbidden or prohibited.
How do you pronounce "verboten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "verboten" is /ˌvəˈbəʊtn̩/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "verboten"?
Unadapted borrowing from German verboten (“banned, forbidden, prohibited”). Doublet of forbidden. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "verboten", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list